Acceptance is effective under contract law when it is unequivocal and communicated to the offeror. Which of the following statements correctly reflects this rule?

• A. Acceptance must be unequivocal and communicated to the offeror.
• B. Acceptance can be inferred from silence.
• C. Acceptance is effective only when the offeror receives it.
• D. Silence constitutes acceptance if the offer defines silence as acceptance.

Answer: (A)

In contract formation, acceptance must be unequivocal and communicated to the offeror. That means the offeree must clearly assent to the exact terms proposed, and that assent has to be conveyed to the person who made the offer. Silence or merely knowing about the offer isn’t enough to create a binding contract because there’s no clear, communicated agreement.

There are exceptions, but they’re special cases rather than the general rule—for example, if the offer itself says that silence will count as acceptance, or if there’s a prior course of dealings that makes silence understandable as assent. In the usual situation, however, you must actively communicate an unequivocal acceptance to form a contract.

The key idea here is that there must be clear, unequivocal assent and it must be communicated to the offeror.